‘Tancred!’ I heard Eudo shout, though I could not see him.
My mount screamed and rose up on its hind legs, kicking at the shadows darting about beneath. I leant forward in the saddle, trying to keep my balance, to keep him under control, as there came a flash of steel from below. He screamed again, and this time he collapsed forward, and I was tossed from the saddle with my foot still caught in the stirrup.
Air rushed past me, but not for long as I came crashing to earth. The wind was knocked from my chest, and I tasted blood in my mouth as I looked up. A shadow towered above me, his sword and helmet glinting. I blinked, and as my eyes adjusted, I saw Eadgar’s face: that familiar thin-lipped scowl that had tormented me ever since Eoferwic.
His eyes narrowed as he looked down at me. ‘I remember you,’ he said. ‘You’re Malet’s dog. The one who made a fool of me.’
‘You killed my lord,’ I spat back at him. ‘You killed Robert de Commines.’
Without warning he swung at me; I recovered my senses, raising my shield as I struggled to free my foot from beneath my mount’s corpse. The blow struck the rim, inches from my neck, inches from killing me, but I had no time to dwell on it. The next stroke came, and the next, the force of each blow shuddering up through my arm, into my shoulder, pinning me down as the hide fell away from my shield, until I could feel the wood starting to splinter.
Eadgar raised his blade for another assault and I tried to scramble backwards, but my leg was still trapped and I could not get away. The ?theling’s sword-edge ripped through my shield, through the mail at my shoulder, the point carving into the flesh.
I yelled out as pain seared through me. I saw the half-smile, half-sneer on Eadgar’s face as he lifted his weapon, ready to land the finishing blow. Desperately I jerked my leg again, feeling the blood pounding in my skull, the sweat stinging my eyes. Bile rose up, burning at my throat, and I found I could not breathe, and I knew that this was my final chance, when at last my foot came free.
Eadgar’s blade came down, but not before I rolled to the side, shaking my arm from the straps of my now useless shield. His sword struck the place where I had lain just a moment before, sinking into the bridge-timbers. It stuck fast, and as he struggled to free it I glimpsed my own weapon lying beside me. I reached for it, clutching the hilt and turning on to my back, just in time to meet Eadgar’s blade. Steel scraped against steel; he was strong and I could feel my muscles straining, but I held firm and managed to turn his blade to one side, forcing him off balance. In the time it took him to recover I rose to my feet, breathing hard, scarcely believing I was still alive.
‘You murdered my woman,’ I said as I clutched tight to my sword-hilt. The words almost stuck in my throat, but I forced them out. ‘Oswynn is dead because of you. You killed her.’
‘And I will kill you too,’ Eadgar snarled, and thrust forward. The sun was in my eyes again, but I managed to parry his blow, gripping my hilt in two hands, using the strength of both my arms to force him back.
‘Your mother was a whore,’ I spat. ‘Go back to her teat where you belong.’
He rushed at me, and this time I didn’t wait for him to strike: instead I attacked first, swinging the point of my sword towards his neck, aiming for the gap between his helmet and his hauberk. It met his cheek-plate; he gave a yell and staggered back. There was blood streaming down his face, and I saw that I had cut him.
He screamed in anger and charged forward again, seeking revenge, and now his men were behind him, with their spears and their axes, and I realised that I was one man against half a dozen. Fear gripped my stomach and I steeled myself, praying to God as Eadgar rushed towards me—
A blur of brown and silver flashed past, and above a clatter of hooves and the crash of steel I heard Eudo’s voice crying out: ‘For Lord Robert!’
He drove his lance into the arm of the ?theling, who staggered back, blood streaming down the sleeve of his mail as the rest of his men closed around him, forming the shield-wall. Beside Eudo was Philippe, and after them came Urse and several others, with lances couched and swords drawn, and straightaway they were pushing the enemy back.
For a moment I could only stand there, dazed by what had happened, but then I recovered my wits.
‘Kill them!’ I shouted, and I was running to join Eudo and the others, pressing the attack, throwing myself into the fray, hacking down upon the purple-and-yellow shields before me, bringing the full weight of my blade to bear.